Wade, Suljovic and Thornton all in action

Mensur Suljovic, James Wade and Robert Thornton will all be hoping to avoid shocks at Alexandra Palace this early, as they face respective opponents Ron Meulenkamp, Ronny Huybrechts and one of Zoran Lerchbacher or Simon Stevenson.

So, read on to check out Coral’s 2017 PDC Worlds day 7 preview…

Zoran Lerchbacher v Simon Stevenson

Lerchbacher (pictured) has a tricky first test against Stevenson.

Austria’s Lerchbacher and Plymouth-born Stevenson, both 44, share the oche first on Wednesday evening in the preliminary tussle, to take on Robert Thornton later that night, and it is the latter who goes into it as 4/11 favourite.

That is largely due to his decent form in 2016 since gaining a two-year PDC tour card which has taken him up to 81 in the rankings, and included a quarter-final appearance at a Players Championship event in August.

The Mirror Man beat the likes of Wade and Alan Norris to reach that stage in Barnsley and, while The Hypercane Lerchbacher (21/10) has some good form in smaller events on the continent, the Englishman is 6/5 to triumph 2-0.

Mensur Suljovic v Ron Meulenkamp

Suljovic (pictured) has a favourable first round fixture against Meulenkamp.

Talking of players who have rapidly risen the rankings, Suljovic is perhaps the biggest improver of them all on the PDC circuit, as he now finds himself as the world number eight, ahead of the likes of Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld.

The Gentle Austrian (1/5), also 44, should have no troubles defeating young-gun Meulenkamp (7/2), who failed to get past this stage in his only other 2017 Worlds appearance.